Havering Council to spend £1.6m on ULEZ-compliant buses

In a bid to ease future costs, the cabinet agreed to partly replace its current stock with new vehicles that meet the requirements of the ULEZ.

The contract was awarded to Treka Bus Ltd, which will purchase the new 16-seater coaches, at a cabinet meeting on October 9.

The cash-strapped council uses its 58 buses to ferry children to school and other venues and said it needs to reduce its operating costs.

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Havering has one of the quickest growing populations of young people in London, and the council predicts the demand for travel services will increase in the coming years.

In a report published this week, a council officer wrote: “It is considered essential to replace the old and potentially non-compliant existing fleet with new vehicles.

“These vehicles are at the end of their operating life and extending the life of the vehicles will see more age-related breakdowns with increased maintenance and hire costs.”

Buses have an average lifetime of around ten years, transport chief Simon Blake said. The ones in need of replacement are three years over.

The vehicles will need to be replaced by 2027. Mr Blake said that delivery of the new buses should take just less than a year.

The buses are currently exempt from ULEZ charges until October 2027, he added. He said: “As long as we get the vehicles replaced by then, we shouldn’t face any charges.”

Under ULEZ restrictions, motorists are charged £12.50 a day for driving vehicles that do not meet emission standards.

The funds for the new buses were allocated in this year’s budget.

The council’s coffers have come under close scrutiny after it identified a £32.5m black hole in the finances in February. Since then, it has proposed closing four libraries – among other cuts – to save around £330,000.

The expansion of the ULEZ into the outer boroughs last August caused consternation among residents and councillors.

However, data published in August 2024 showed a clear improvement in air quality across Havering. The readings, taken from stations in Romford and Rainham, showed the volume of emissions had halved since February.

The amount of fine inhalable particle emissions across the outer boroughs is around 22 per cent lower than it would be without ULEZ, the data shows.

David Taylor, representing St Edwards ward, previously described the City Hall policy as a “cruel and regressive tax that hits the poorest the hardest”.

Having obtained the data, he said he could “no longer deny that it has cleaned up Romford and Havering’s air.”